Beef's Liver
Skin the liver, cut in slices and lay in salt water, as soon as it comes from market. Fry in lard with pepper, very brown. Season to taste.--Mrs. C.
Three sentences of instruction that assume a cook who already knows what fried liver should look like. The one thing to disregard is "very brown."
- Do not fry it very brownBeef liver holds almost no fat and its proteins tighten fast; taken to a deep even brown all the way through it turns dry and grainy. Two to three minutes a side over medium-high heat, until the surface is well coloured and the centre is still faintly rosy, is where it stays tender.
- SlicingCut on a slight bias about 1/2 inch thick. Thinner slices overcook before they colour; thicker ones need so long that the outside hardens.
- "Skin the liver"This means peeling off the thin outer membrane, which shrinks in the pan and curls the slices. Slide a knife tip under it at one edge and pull it away in a sheet; also cut out any tough tubes at the thick end.
- The salt-water soakThirty minutes to an hour in lightly salted cold water draws out blood and softens the metallic edge. Milk or buttermilk does the same job and is the more common modern choice. Pat the slices completely dry before they meet the fat or they will steam rather than brown.
- FatLard is still the best choice here for flavour and a high smoke point; bacon drippings, ghee or a neutral oil with a knob of butter added at the end all work. Butter alone will scorch at the heat needed.
- Season to tasteSalt after cooking rather than before, and season generously. Sliced onions cooked slowly in the same fat, either before or after the liver, are the usual accompaniment, though this recipe does not call for them.
- QuantityFigure 6 to 8 oz of liver per person as a main course, about 1 1/2 lb for four.
- Freshness"As soon as it comes from market" was not a flourish. Liver spoils faster than muscle meat; buy it the day you intend to cook it and keep it cold.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia, compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree and published in 1878, gathered contributions from some 250 Virginia housekeepers, which is why so many of its entries end with an initial rather than a name -- "Mrs. C." is one voice among a crowd of neighbours and relations. Liver was among the cheaper parts of a beef carcass and, in a kitchen without mechanical refrigeration, among the first that had to be dealt with, which is the likeliest sense of the instruction to soak it in salt water the moment it arrives.